The tardy and enduring process to obtain the machine readable passport will soon be the thing of the past, claims the Department of Passport.

 

The department will soon be introducing an online pre-enrolment service that will put an end to the long enduring passport application process, said DoP Director General Lok Bahadur Thapa. “This will significantly reduce the time for receiving a new passport by five to 15 days, depending upon the types of travel documents,” he said.

 

According to Thapa, applicants can directly log on to the department’s official website(www.), and fill out their personal details as per the instruction and submit it online. They will receive a bar code and number upon submission of the form, and the passport process begins when they reach the department with the number.

An automated information (bar code) will then advise the applicant the time and place (DoP or nearby passport offices) to submit the required fee, along with photographs and put in a signature as per the standard set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).   

 

Having successfully completed the test run, the new system will be introduced to the public soon, the DoP chief said, adding that the service will be gradually expanded across the country.

 

 “As well as reducing the costs, procedural hassles, it will ease functions of the department,” said Thapa.

With the growing number of applicants owing to foreign job seekers, students and frequent travellers, the department is also confronting more mistakes and errors in applications, resulting in waste of time and money to the applicants.

 

“Introduction of the pre-online system will cut down on such problems,” he said.

 

The department has already introduced the live enrolment centres at the DoP and some Nepali missions abroad to provide efficient, hassle-free service to the applicants.

 

The department has issued more than 4.2 million machine readable passports (MRP) since its introduction at the end of 2010. But the demand for new MRPs has hardly relented.

 

“We are printing 3,500 passports on average a day,” said Thapa, adding that the department had been printing more than 6,000 copies of passport a daily until November last year.